


A Sunken Sailors Lover

by StarryEyedBlankets



Series: It Started With A Fire [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Au where everyones on earth but they still fight the galra, Depression, Doctor and patient ocs, F/F, Heartbreak, I dont know how to explain this lol, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Tbqh theres going to be a bunch of ocs but theyre not really the main... thing???, Theres a station on earth for injured soldiers who need time to heal or are disabled somehow, Uhm, lots of suggestive ships, thb i cant decide whos with who aside from keith and shiro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-09-11 09:38:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8974492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryEyedBlankets/pseuds/StarryEyedBlankets
Summary: Keith has been injured within the war against the galra empire. He's stuck to recover slowly on earth, but he keeps getting sicker and sicker. 
Will the others recognize him anymore?





	1. Chapter 1

Keith can barely remember what happened. The last thing his mind could ever manage to dig up was feeling his back hit a metal wall extremely hard. 

He would be laying on his side, gasping for air as he struggled to breath, let alone feel anything but the burning sensation I'm his chest. He remembered how dry his throat and mouth were, his eyes blurred with tears as they rolled down his face and fell onto the ground. 

Footsteps ran over to him, and he was unable to see who it was as explosions went off. A familiar voice called out his name, and he blacked out. 

By the time that happened, Keith woke up terrified. He would be clutching onto his throat, trying to calm himself as his hands trembled and the burning sensation slowly died down. He slowly pushed himself to sit up, looking at the windows.

This night was just the same as any other crummy night. The dimmed moonlight that seeped through the curtains barely illuminated his bed sheets, and the light bounced off. Part of his face was lit up, the majority in the dark. 

He turned to look over at his left, and moved his hand over, remembering that shiro wasn't home. He wouldn't be for a very long time, maybe next year he would. 

The thought made his heart sink. Shiro would miss Christmas again, that's for sure. He wasn't comfortable having to share that day with strangers, when could be sharing that important day with his lover. He sighed and slowly laid back down. 

The fact that he was stuck, practically paralyzed from the hip down, sucked. Stressing about his boyfriend being dead is what made it worse. 

His eyes stared up at the ceiling, his eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. 

The only thing he could hear were the crickets, his own shallow breathing, and his faint heartbeat. 

He turned his head to the side and grabbed the pillow shiro slept one, holding it close as he breathed in the strong, familiar scent of shiro. He kept his eyes closed tightly shut, and drifted to sleep. 

___________________________

"Keith- Keith!" Someone shook Keith awake, and he slowly came to his senses, looking at the familiar girl. Half of her face was covered in a bandages, wrapped around her head, hair sticking out. Her glasses still were on her face, even though she used her one good eye.

He slowly propped himself up with his elbows. "What's going on, pidge?" Keith slurred his words, soon yawning. 

Pidge laughed a bit. "Christ- you should go see if they could make your teeth a little dull again. They look like cat teeth." She then grabbed Keith's wheelchair and put it by the bed. "To answer your question- you'll see soon. I can't tell you, since it's a surprise." 

"Oh really?" Keith smiled a little, and slowly crawled into it. He hated sitting in it, but he did it for the sake of healing quicker. It was also easy for him and his friends, so they go on little adventures from time to time. 

Pidge soon pushed Keith's wheelchair, the doors sliding apart as the two exit. A part of him hoped that it was Allura. Pidge really did deserve more in life.

About half a year ago, pidge saw her brother and father again for a few hours until her dad had to go join the war. Her brother did stay, but they've been worried sick over her father, despite him sending his family about three letters each month. Whenever Allura was near, the two girls would get in friendly arguments, looking like they could easily forget the whole world of issues they had on the shoulders. 

He realized he zoned out for a bit, and looked up at Allura holding a present. Her eyes glowed win excitement, and she handed it to Keith. "Your birthday won't happen until next year, but I wanted to give this to you before I left. Shiro made it himself, and he personally asked me to give it to you."She beamed with joy when Keith gently took it from her hands, curiosity twinkling in his eyes.

It was a slender box. The wrapping paper was a soft shade of red, and it had a black bow on top. The light reflected off the wrapping paper, and Keith quick noticed how smooth it was. 

Someone's had a bit of practice. 

Keith looked up, holding it delicately in his lap. "Thank you- could I open it privately though?" He felt a bit rude asking, but he didn't want to feel awkward around others when he did. 

Allura nods. "Sure!"

He smiled a bit, and Pidge moved around Keith. She hugged allura tightly, and sighed. "Don't do something stupid- stay safe and keep me updated, please." She murmured to allura as tears formed in her eye. Allura held Pidge close, and she laughed lightly. Keith looked away at the present, not wanting to eavesdrop. 

"I promise." There was hesitation in the brave princesses tone, but pidge chose to ignore it. Keith couldn't help but feel a bit awkward in the situation.

"I've got to go now." Allura spoke softly to pidge, and pidge let go. She watched the altean princess head off with the rest of the soldiers, and stood there in silence for a while. The two moved their gaze to watch the soldiers get in their ships and blast off one by one. People were quiet, and the once comforting chatter was killed off with this departure of loved ones. 

"Well- we should go eat. I'm pretty sure everyone else is taking those crummy fruit loops you like." Pidge soon walked behind keith, pushing him to the incredibly small cafeteria. Since there were only around a hundred injured soldiers, they made the cafeteria the smallest room possible. It was a bit awful, but everyone simply dealt with it. Everyone was too tired to fight, slightly depressed or just wanted to be left alone. 

They were all promised that this place would keep them happy and healthy, but the depression rates have risen within this small, injured community of injured people and aliens. No one likes to talk about it, but everyone was well aware of what was going on. 

Pidge soon left keith at a table in a corner, walking to the counter to order fruit loops, cheerios, and two water bottles. 

As she ordered their food and the cafeteria lady went to get what pidge nicely asked for, keith fiddled with the present. He was slightly impatient as he was curious to see what it was. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand, elbow propped on the table. 

Pidge shortly returned with their food, and they ate in silence, talking about simple things like what they missed about being in space to being able to see with both eyes or moving around on two legs than being pushed around in a wheelchair. 

Once they finished eating, pidge took keith back in his room as he kindly asked her to help him do so. She took her laptop, said her goodbye for the day- or week, and left keith alone with his present. He delicately unwrapped it, and stared at the picture that showed the whole group in a picture frame. His heart warmed up and beated quick with joy when he saw the familiar hand writing that belonged to hunk, lance, allura and unsurprisingly shiro. It was good knowing that the four kept in contact from time to time, possibly keeping their friendship healthy as ever. 

He grazed his fingertip on the frame, and held it close to his chest as if he were in a chick flick. He then propped the frame with the handle on the back, placing it carefully on his night stand.

Keith spent the rest of his day laying in bed as he listened to the faint noises of people walking outside and breathing heavily as if they ran for their lives. Irritated, he covered the pillow over his ears. God, why did they have to breathe so loud- were they running from a wild animal? There's hardly any wild animals nearby.

The scent of smoke filled his room, and he as quite adjusted to it. He always kept his window open, despite being told not to. It kept him at ease, and he liked hearing the crickets chirpimg at night. 

It also brought back memories of a few battles he was involved in with the crew. So to cut it short, it made him feel extremely nostalgic and at peace. 

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, soon drifting to sleep around six pm.


	2. Chapter 2

The building was small above the ground. There were dozens of pristine windows to let the sunlight rays shine inside and give extremely injured soldiers sunlight, in order to help them avoid their depression worsening. The walls were made of metal, and the ground was... also metal. There werent any carpets at all.

The rooms above contained a small cafeteria, the maximum capacity of people allowed were roughly around 50. There were only 76 people within the building, but people usually sent out others to bring them their meals. A few more rooms involved included the library, bedrooms and an "entertainment" room.

The library was a large room with bookshelves filled with broken down books, the whole room reeking of old books.There were two long tables with ripped up chairs, and a few dozen sunlight lamps. The bedrooms were somewhat nice. There were large beds, incredibly huge windows, a night stand, a wardrobe, a mirror above the bed and a wall solely for the sake of hanging personal pictures.

The pictures ranged around picutres of loved ones, places around the world or drawings. It depended on what made the patient feel a little less lonely or pissed off about being stuck in this facility. The first floor was where the healthier patients werent allowed.

It was incredibly large in comparison to the first floor. There were so many rooms, one could get lost without a worker or a partner.

The most important rooms were quite obvious. One was a mini hospital. There were hospital beds, heart monitors, curtains, oxygen masks and tanks, tvs and the like. Everything was always completely sanitized, wires were tied neatly and the patients were kept happy and... somewhat healthy. Of course, no one told others about the room next door, and why it made the room smell awful. 

It was a morgue. Of course, no one on the first floor knew. Otherwise they wouldnt be happy- some would get heart attacks, or they'd make the job even harder for the doctors and nurses. Both are the last thing anyone needed. 

Within other rooms, there were weapons in case the building was under attack. No one but the doctors and nurses knew. 

There was a plant room with the most beautiful flowers any of the dying patients were going to see before being 'put down'. The patients werent told that they were going to be killed- but everyone was sure the patient knew. They always had these dull expressions on their faces, their eyes drained of any joy that was once there. 

In a few more rooms, there were cleaning supplies, medicine, and any other necessary things such as clothes, bed sheets and so on. 

Outside of the building, it was simply dirt and pebbles. There wasnt any life nearby, as it was better that way. The oxygen wouldnt do well to any animals nearby. 

It was a sunny day that day- nearly everyone was sitting by their windows, feeling the warmth they lacked from loved ones. There was a soft hum in the air, and it reminded keith of the red lion. How the engine purred to life in satisfaction once he cleaned it head to toe, leaving it glistening in the sunlight. 

Keith was staring out of the window, elbows propped on the window stool, warmth spreading on his cold, pale skin. He had his chin rested on the palms of his hands, then slouched as he let his head gently hit the glass. He was miserable here- there was so much he could have been doing. However, he was paralyzed from the waist down, and the doctors treated him like a child. He hated it. 

He heard the doors open up, and he moved his eyes to the side. 

"Mr.Kogane?" A woman spoke softly, knowing very well that keith hated doing this. 

He let out an exasperated sigh and moved his own hands away from himself, moving them down to the cold push ring. He pushed himself back from the sunlight and wheeled closer to the bed, he stationed the wheelchair besides the lonely mattress. The young doctor walked towards him, as if to offer a hand, but keith ignored her. Hes been doing this for two years, he could handle it.

He pushed himself up from his seat, and onto his bed. He had managed to slightly sit on the very edge of the bed, and the doctor helped him sit back. 

She kneeled in front of him, and took a plexor out of her coats pocket. She gently tapped his knee, and keith rolled his eyes. She clearly ignored him and she took out a needle, a pale, blue liquid inside of it. 

Keith soon stared at it, feeling his stomach twist. She murmured something under her breath and she tapped the end of the needle gently as she squeezed some of the liquid out. 

"What the hell is that?" He asked her quickly, his muscles tensing up. He was preparing himself to knock that thing out of her hand. 

She looked up at him. "I shouldnt tell you but...." Her expression was serious. Keith felt his heart race upon seeing her usual, gentle gaze harden. 

She felt his leg for any nerve, and she stuck the needle in, injecting the liquid inside of his blood. Keith felt dizzy, and felt the hair on his neck and arms rise. 

"What- WHAT ARE YOU-" He was cut off. 

"Calm down, its only a flu shot." She looked up at him and smiled, giggling lightly. Keith glared at her and relaxed, huffing his cheeks. 

"What? You cant be _too_ angry at me. Dont forget the time you scared me shitless too." She then looked down at the needle and pulled it away from him. She took out a few more things from her pocket, and ended up putting a band aid on the small hole in his skin. 

"Hmm." Keith crossed his arms, and he shook his head, laughing lightly. She was right- he did frighten her rather awfully when they were sharing gossip that theyve heard about the doctors and patients. Keith told her that someone he knew was dying, being ominous about it. 

 

_"What?! Keith Kogane- who the hell is dying?!" She gasped, her eyes wide with terror. Keith wouldnt look at her, he just looked down at his hands, and stayed quiet for a few long moments. He slowly looked up at her._

_"My motivation."_

_He remembered how she punched his arm in frustration, a wave of relief clearly washing over her._

_"You jerk, i thought someone on this floor was_ legitimately  _dying." She rolled her eyes and sighed._

 

"I guess." He yawned and uncrossed his arms from his chest, propping himself up with his hands by his sides. 

He was slightly disappointed to see that she was packing her things, getting ready to leave. 

"Already?" He asked her, and she looked at him. She frowned slightly, and sighed, nodding. 

"Yeah, sorry. Im actually not supposed to tell you this, but the rate of sickness is going incredibly high, and fast too. We had to take three people downstairs because they could barely manage to keep their eyes awake." 

Keith frowned even more. "Is there anything i could do to help?" 

She looked at him, and laughed halfheartedly. "Dont get sick? The last thing i need to see is another friend go to the first floor." She let out a sigh, and leaned down to give him a tight, but quick hug. Keith moved on hand up to lightly pat her back, and she broke the hug, straightening herself up. 

"Well, ive got to go now. Ill try to stop by and tell you any new rumors ive heard about Ford and Rocky." She smiled to lighten the mood, and keith returned a small smile to comfort her. 

"Bye." He told her, watching her leave his room. He was left alone again, and he knew he was going to be for a whole day, maybe even two. Pidge had to be taken downstairs in order to have her eye socket checked on, and to try a robotic eye in order to see if she'll be able to see with both eyes and whatnot. 

Keith made sure shiro didnt try to think about squeezing in their calls in his tight schedule, especially when he just managed to escape their enemies. The last thing keith wanted was to hear the base go under attack when hes calling- he just prays the base wont  _be_ under attack. 

Keith stretched and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling for hours. He made a half assed attempt to roll on his side, letting his fingertips barely touch the red sunlight. It felt nice. It wasnt enough- but it made up for the lack of shiros fingertips barely grazing his own on lazy days like these. 

Keith shook his head and sat up. The lack of movement made him feel tired, so he decides to just go to sleep again. There is nothing that can be done. Hes already written in his small journal, wrote a letter to lance, and tidied up his room. He did every chore he was allowed to do, and went out for two hours, strolling around. 

He felt like there was more to do as he heaved himself further back onto the bed, going underneath the bed sheets. He shut his eyes once he rested his head on the pillow, and slowly drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so sorry about taking forever! Ive tried my best to make this chapter well, even though this chapter isnt that exciting.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this!


	3. Chapter 3

Pidge was sprawled out on the floor, sighing as she tried to not roll over any papers she had spread all over the ground. She tapped her pencils eraser on her stomach rather gently, and she stared up at the ceiling. She was trying to remember the layout of the building, and how the doctors acted when they thought no one was paying attention. She rolled back onto her stomach, and she began to write down in a small journal on how odd this place was- the staff members never really told their names, let alone let the patients give them a nickname. 

_Its most likely that theyre strictly assigned to certain patients. Last time a nurse and a doctor who went by the names Edgar and Shyanne disappeared when they were caught interacting with a different patient. The patient was moved downstairs, and the other two were never heard of again. Why are they trying desperately to hide their identities? What are they hiding?_

Pidge heard footsteps approach her room, and she frantically grabbed her journal and shoved it under her bed. It wasnt the safest place to hide it there, but it was just for now. She quickly laid down on her stomach and took interest in her laptop, doing her usual research on any of the machinery that was on this floor. The automatic doors opened, and pidge felt her heart race in her chest as she looked over to her doctor. They smiled anxiously at her. "Ready for your appointment, Pidge?" Despite their small figure, they had a rather strong and loud voice.

Pidge sighed, and slowly got up. "Not really. Can I change my band aid quickly before we go?" She asked her doctor as she lazily flattened the wrinkles in her clothing, and her doctor shook her head.  _Great._ Knowing how stubborn the staff was, she didnt complain. She walked over to the door, and glanced back at the paperwork, then the laptop, and wished silently that she actually took the time to admire the warmth the sunlight offered. 

As they walked out her bedroom, and the automatic doors closed behind them, the doctor was looking at a clipboard. Everything was in a completely different language, and pidge wanted to groan in irritation. 

"Have you felt any intense headaches as of lately, Pidge?" They asked her. She shook her head once they looked at her, and they nodded, checking something off on the paper. 

"Has your socket bled more than usual? Have you had any panic attacks lately, or nightmares?" Pidge knew all of the questions by heart, but answered them to the best of her ability, trying to not snap in irritation. She hated doing this. 

The doctor hummed and led pidge into an elevator. The doors slowly closed, and the doctor turned to press a few buttons. One was to go to the second floor, and pidge was unsure about the rest. They were color coded, and its not like she could see anything that well. The text was incredibly small, and trying to read with an eye thats nearly given up on her was hard enough. She looked down, and stared at her feet. 

"How was your day, pidge?" The doctor asked, their eyes staying glued on their paperwork. Pidge shrugged a shoulder. 

"Alright I guess. I would be better if I didn't have to do this." She commented, arms crossing across her chest. She wished they would just let her take care of herself. 

The doctor hummed, ignoring pidges snarky comment, and they flipped the first page up, reading something over. Pidge stood quiet, taking this time to look at her surroundings. 

The walls were dark grey, and cold. There were large windows on each side, and the room was rather cylindrical. The floor was a faded shade of gold, a few... dark stains barely visible. She looked away, part of her curious on what it was. Then again, she felt like she didn't want to know what they were from, or why they're still there. 

She leaned on the wall, and finally looked up at the doctor. They were staring at her for a few long moments, and pidge felt her blood run cold. Why? 

The way their gaze bore into her eye. It was _beyond_ unsettling. Their dark blue eyes were startling close to Lance's. 

They looked away, and pidge let out a quiet sigh of relief. The doors opened up, thank god.

The doctor soon turned to grab pidges hand. Pidge tensed and tried to pull away, but the look they received made them swallow thickly in nervousness. 

They were soon led to the small hospital, the doors opening as a wave of chemicals hit her nostrils almost immediately. 

She looked around, hearing a few coughs and sniffles from within the curtains. She didn't like how to patients were practically hidden within plastic in the very end of the room, isolated from the rest. What were they sick with? 

Her thoughts were put to an end when she was led to a bed. The doctor pulled the soft blue cubical curtain to hide pidge from the rest. Pidge watched her doctor silently, hands moving up to remove her socket. Of course, she stopped as the doctor turned to walk over to her. 

"What are you doing?" The doctor asked. They walked over to her, moving their hands down as they began to unwrap the band aid slowly. 

"Wait- WAIT!" pidge hissed out loudly, feeling her socket began to swell up, knowing that blood was starting to come out of the holes in her eye socket. It threatened to ooze out, but pidge smacked the doctors hands away, her hand holding the band aid in place. 

She hated feeling the warmth of her own sticky blood seep through her band aid and onto her palm. It made her queasy, and she hated the feeling. 

The doctor quickly walked over to a cabinet, grabbing multiple things to treat her problem. Pidge was too bothered with stopping the blood drip heavily onto her clothes to look or ask the doctor what they were going to do. 

"Necesito ayuda!" They yelled. A nurse ran over to the cubical they were in, and slid the curtain open quickly. 

The smell was overwhelming for pidge. She felt her heartbeat race as the doctor and nurse approached her slowly. One was holding a needle, the other was holding a mask. Pidge moved her hand away from her face as her eye widened, tears welling up. 

She felt _terrified_. 

Pidge quickly scrambled backwards off of the bed, slowly starting to hyperventilate. 

"Pidge, calm down. We're not going to hurt you." 

She fell off the bed and the adrenaline was rushing in. She was too busy wanting to run out of this place to notice her pain. She got up and made a beeline for the door, the feeling of the warm blood now oozing down her face. 

A doctor looked surprised to see her there. She shoved them as the door opened and she sprinted out of the room, soon dashing deep into the twisted hallways. 

She heard others running behind her, and her chest began to burn. 

Her surroundings began to change. She kept on running, but she caught a glimpse of her old, familiar suit. The green was that of an untouched, and enchanted forest. Everything however, had an endangering tint of purple. 

She was back in the galra ship. There were others behind her, but they were all blurry. 

Pidge let out a gasp as a galra soldier ran towards her at full speed. She quickly rolled past them, nearly breaking her glasses. She panted as she got up as fast as possible, and continued to run. There were more footsteps behind her for sure. 

She was soon tackled, and she let out a choked out cry as she hit the ground. She squirmed as they held her down, arms crossed against her back as her legs were pressed down. Fresh blood was running down the side of her face, dripping and gently falling on her eyelashes and eyelid. She began to feel tired. 

_Was it from blood loss, or did they inject anesthesia into her body?_

Everything began to dim down to darkness and the last thing she saw was her own reflection in the small puddle of blood forming below her own face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything that's in Spanish will have a translation in the end chapter notes. Don't worry! C:

Pidge woke up to the sound of a heartbeat monitor, the beeping rather slow.  She couldnt see anything, and she shifted around in the bed slightly. 

It took her a few moments to realize that she couldnt see. Was she blindfolded? 

She moved a hand up to her face, only to have the doctor smack them away. "You stop that." Their voice had a scolding tone. 

Her lip curled into a sneer, and she sat up. "Why am I even blindfolded? Did I spill too much blood as I was dragged over here?" 

The doctor was quiet, and this only made pidge want to take off the blindfold to let her gaze bore into them. 

"While you were nearly dying from bleeding out, another doctor decided to do surgery on your eyes. You actually have the new ones transplanted within your sockets, but the nerves take time to become accepted to your body." 

Pidge couldn't believe her ears, and she sat there stiffly in silence. 

A dozen questions ran through out her mind. 

_What if my body never accepts it?_

_Will people think I'm a freak?_

_What will lance say?_

_What would the others say?_

Pidge slumped down against the pillows placed behind her back, hearing a familiar  _fwump_ from her interacting with them. 

"Will it be obvious?" 

The doctor leaned back, a grin on their face. "No- we were able to make the material extremely similar to an actual, healthy and functioning human eyeball. If we were to take off the blindfold now- or within three days, they would ...explode." Their voice trailed off, and pidge shifted nervously in the hospital bed, the hair on the back of her neck rising. 

"So we have to take you into an isolated room for nearly four days in order to avoid that." 

Pidge could feel her blood run cold. 

There was the sound of papers being flipped, and the doctor sighed in content. "Alright, your health is perfectly fine for now. Your heartbeat is fast at the moment, but that's normal! Time to get you in the room." They heaved themselves off the chair, and several people flooded the edges pidge was laying in. 

She was too stunned to know what to say as she felt herself being pushed around in the hallways, already forgetting how many twists and turns they've taken. 

It seems like the building is a lot bigger than they all thought it was. 

"Cuidado- Ella es muy delicada."* The doctor cooed, and pidge quirked an eyebrow in confusion as the metal doors opened. 

"Como un bolsa de rosas?"* Another voice asked. 

The doctor slowly nods, her gaze softening as she looked over at pidge. "Si."*

Pidge soon felt the bed slowly lowered down to the ground, gripping tightly onto the edges. 

"What's going on?" Pidge moved her head up, relaxing slightly once she was placed on the ground. 

"You won't be able to run out of here, but we'll keep an eye on you. If you have to go to the bathroom, or if you're hungry, just knock on the walls nearby you twice." 

"Why can't-" she was cut off.

"Goodnight!" The doctors voice bounced softly off of the four walls that surrounded pidge, the doors soon closing. Pidge sighed and she sunk deeper into her bed. 

A man's voice cracked into the speakers. "You can take the blindfold off." 

Pidge gladly takes it off and she blinked several times, getting adjusted to seeing with two eyes again. 

A small gasp escaped her lips as she let her gaze sweep the room. It looked like she was in space. 

Pidge hops out of her bed and she soon walked over to the walls, fingertips trailing them. She knew it wasn't real, and she knew she was in space- but it never hurt to pretend for a little while. 

Being barefoot within this room was the worst mistake ever. She raced back over to her bed, doing her best to keep her feet warm again. 

"You seem tired. You should rest for now." 

Pidge grumbled under her breath and yawned as she laid down on her side. She did feel rather drained. 

She stared at the starry walls, pulling the sheets over to her shoulders before slowly falling unconscious. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"Careful, she's very delicate."   
> *"Like a bag of roses?"


	5. Chapter 5

It started with a lack of deafening silence. There wasn't any familiar whirring from a handmade computer, or the clicking of a laptops keyboard. No snarky remarks or smug grins.

Keith was usually alone at this time, as he never was seen as friendly enough to strike up a conversation.

If that wasn't the issue, he was simply awkward or just too quiet.

"Keith, where were you? We have to do your training today." His doctor came over, quickly putting him into his wheelchair and pushing him out of the room as fast as she could.

Keith yelped and clutched onto the handles, growling with irritation.

"God, if we're late again, I'm going to get in so much trouble." She mumbled through a mouth full of bread.

Bread crumbs flew out of her mouth, and all over the top of his head, littering his shoulders.

Grossed out, he brushed it off and huffed once they got into the elevator.

"Sorry." The doctor muttered, brushing the crumbs off of themselves and tidying up her tight bun. She fixed his messy mullet, and he smacked her hands away until she gave up. She softly sighed through her nostrils and smiled, shaking her head and fixing her posture.

"Are you going to help me out today, or is someone else going to do that?" He questioned her quietly.

"I want to, but I can't. I have to record your strengths and weaknesses while another nurse helps you go through the basics." He slouched, knowing very well who the other nurse might be. Keith was not looking forward to any of this, as usual.

The elevator softly beeped as the doors opened, a heavy wave of sickness and medicine hitting him. His doctor pulled out a cloth, handing it over to him. He gladly took it and placed it over his mouth and nose as he was pushed out of the elevator.

"What does it smell like?" She asked quietly.

"The air is thick. It smells like a toddler ran around and smothered mucus, with a sprinkle of vomit here and there. Nothing a sane person would consider as mouth watering." He shrugged a shoulder, and she chuckles.

They wall over to a door that mostly contained of glass. Keith blinked a few times, letting his eyes get adjusted to the bright light once he was inside, and he looked at the nurse. He shot Keith an irritated look, and Keith gladly returned the same expression.

The doctor walked over to a table, sitting down and grabbing the clipboard and pencil.

The nurse walked over to Keith, grabbing him hastily. Keith smacked his hands away, and the nurse let go immediately.

He huffs and looked at the parallel bars that were colored pristine white. He heaved himself out of the wheelchair, and he grabbed the bars, gripping onto them. Keith ignored the quiet snort received from the nurse, and he felt- well,  _heard_ his feet make contact with the tarp below. 

Keith inhaled deeply as he focused on what he had to do, trying to  _feel_ himself walking. His knuckles turned white from how hard he was gripping onto the cold bars, irritation turning to frustration withal sprinkle of desperation to move feel his legs. Just an inch. 

With his determination faltering, he started to slip slightly from time to time. The hair on his neck rose everytime he nearly fell onto the bars, and the doctor quickly rushed over to him. 

"Hey- hey, you did great today! Let me help-" 

"I can do this." He hissed through clenched teeth, gripping harder onto the bars. 

"I know, but you've reached your limit. Your arms are tired, we can't risk you getting even worse." She starts, soon squeezing herself inside the bars and picking him up with ease. 

"Let go." He tensed. She clicked her tongue and walked over to the wheelchair, gently setting him down. 

"Alright, alright. Calm down, princess." She lightly taunted him, and he leaned back, fingers tapping on his handle. 

"Don't call me that." He snaps at her, and she raised her hands up in the air. 

"Okay! Okay- I'm sorry. Let's go get you something to eat before you bite off  _my_ head. Alright?" She flattened the wrinkles on his shirt, and he kept quiet. His stomach growled and she smiles. 

"Sounds like a deal to me." She turned her head over to the nurse, and he was already putting the clipboard in a rectangular tube. 

"Already ahead of you." 

She hums and gets Keith out of the room and back into the elevator. 

"You two don't seem very fond of each other." 

"You just realized that?" He glanced up at her, his stiff muscles now relaxing slightly. 

She shook her head, stretching. "I've realized this since the moment you two laid eyes on each other. He's like your second lance!" 

Keith made a face at this, not finding the comment amusing at all. 

"What? Maybe you two will befriend each other." Her voice trailed off when she saw him keep his gaze straight ahead, his gaze hardening upon the sight of his own reflection. 

"So, what do you think will be on the menu? Maybe they'll have some decent food for once." She laughs lightly. 

Again, silence. 

"Maybe they have those weird peanut butter lobsters again. I think your friend Allura-" 

The doors opened and Keith moved his hands over to the wheels, not wasting any time to get away from her. 

"You just never seem to take the hint of being quiet sometimes, do you?" He growled out her and made his way over to the cafeteria, leaving her to stand there in silence. She shrugged her shoulders and went back into the elevator. 

Keith looked around for pidge, but there was no trace of her short, brunette hair. He sighed, and went over to the surprisingly short line. He grabbed two sandwiches, a carton of milk and some carrots before making his way back over to his room. 

He was close to his room until he felt a pang of pain shoot up his feet as someone rushed besides him. 

Keith hissed in pain through clenched teeth and stiffened, whipping around to look over at the stranger. No one was there. 

Keith quickly went into his room, and once he was sure he was alone, he bent down to gently tap his feet.

Nothing.

He sighed, leaning back. Maybe the training was just getting to him. He ate his lunch in silence, moving over to the window to stare at nothing, per usual. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proceed with caution near the end of the story!  
> Keith has a really graphic, gory nightmare. If you have a weak stomach, or cannot handle graphic descriptions of heavy violence or gore, i suggest you skip the end.

 

The sight of his own reflection in the window startled him out of his trance. Flinching back, his eyes widened and his pulse pounded in his ears from the sudden surprise.

His hair was a lot longer than he remembers. His fingertips moved up to curl the tips of his embarrassing long mullet, and his gaze moved over to the soft, raven hair. Turning his attention back to his faint reflection, he opened his mouth, ignoring the dried up blood on his pale, cracked lips. He looked at his canines, poking at them. They were rather sharp. 

 _"Christ- you should go see if they could make your teeth a little dull again. They look like cat teeth."_ Her words echoed and pranced around his dull mind, and he closed his mouth. 

Placing his hands onto the cool metal of his wheels, he steered himself away from the mirror, watching himself fade altogether from the mirror. He stopped when he watched two soldiers walk side by side, vaguely reminding him about the alteans.

They were close, and barely escaped the galra. They were merely citizens, but they were still important nonetheless. He was pretty sure one of them was supposed to be selected randomly as the heir of the throne, since the queen didnt have any lovers or children or anyone of royal blood in general.

Keith could understand why the queen might have had her eye fixated on them- they had every quality of a leader.

He leaned back, watching them stop in the middle of their tracks, only to fix each others clothing.

For once, he started to _really_ miss his friends. He already missed them, but the sight of these two made his heart ache with impatience and frustration. He wheeled over to where there was a small radio, and he flipped it on. The familiar song began to play, and he soon ran his fingertips- his nails, his  _claws_ against the scratched surface of his jacket. 

The staff wouldn't let him wear it, as they believe he would probably piss someone off from the dull color. Well, it was something along those lines. He didn't try testing them, since he would rather not deal with being nagged and having his things taken away.

_pick out your armor and if you can  
just break in_

He looked up at the ceiling, head leaning back slightly. He remembered the faint smell of burnt papers, smoke and possibly even fear or dread. The sound of the fire crackling and popping as the buildings fell apart and elderly aliens let out cries of relief. 

_cause if the others get the chance  
they won’t hesitate_

He could feel the heat of the fire on his clothing, and the beads of sweat forming above his brow as they safely escorted any survivors out of there, and seeing the slightly triumphant and stupid smile plastered on lances face. The surprise on their faces when they were both struck from behind, the air knocked out of them. 

The air was caught in his throat and his body jolted him back into consciousness of the world he was stuck in. Breathing heavily, he curled over to try and calm himself as the song went on and he whisked away his memories with deep breaths. 

Keith went to his small dresser and changed into another clean shirt. Going back to the radio, he turned it off long before it would even finished, and he headed out of his room. 

As he was outside of his bedroom doors, he took a small inhale and sighed. Heading over to the library, one of the librarians looked over at him with surprise, a small smile forming on her face. "Speak of the devil. What brought you here?"

"What?" He looked at her in confusion. 

Did people think he was a devil????

She laughs at his surprise, and she shook her head. "Nothing, keith. Do you need something?" She leaned over her stand to look at him, and he shook his head. 

"Not really. I just wanted to see if I could help around here."

Her eyes light up and she smiles again, going over her desk and nodding. She leads him into another small room he never knew about until now. It was empty, nothing really interesting. 

"I can tell you're even more confused. I wanted to see if you could help me decorate the room, since rocky and ford want to turn this room into some sort of secret.. lounge? Im not sure, but its going to be for staff members and whoever their special one is to just hang out. I think." She shrugged a shoulder, and leaned against on of the empty walls. 

"Oh, uh... I dont think im the right type of person for this kind of thing." He responds awkwardly, and she looks over at him. 

"Well... you did want to help, didn't you?"

He nods slowly, and looked back at the room. 

"Well, if you want to make this work, you have to make the room bigger, and more discreet. You'll probably have to soundproof the room, but make the music so loud. They'll feel it downstairs, and it'll give you guys away almost right away." He begins. 

"Ohh- wait, wait, let me write down these notes." She goes back to her stand and grabs a notepad and a pen, and he smiled slightly, sighing through his nostrils.

 

\-------------------------------------------------

 

Keith went back to the first floor, and he ran into his doctor. She looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. 

"What are you doing down here?" She moved her hand over to his face, gently putting the back of her hand onto his forehead to see if he was burning up. Keith swatted her hand away and furrowed his eyebrows at her. 

"I was just wanted help making my teeth duller." 

"Oh, why didn't you tell me that earlier?" Her familiar smile forms on her face and she leads him into the biggest room, the sound of heartbeat monitors beeping softly in the background. 

The doctor walked over to a cabinet, looking at the lock and pressing eight different buttons, each having a different beep. She then puts her gloves on and takes out a cylindrical, green tube scattered with bite marks. She walks over to him, and he gladly takes it.

"You know, your teeth grow in pretty quick within three months. Should we see if some medication is causing this?"

Keith shook his head, carefully biting down into the tube. It sent waves of shock into his mouth, and he felt his jaws pounding slightly until his entire mouth went numb. He looked up at her, and she was leaning lightly against the desk, looking at a clipboard covered with his papers. She quietly looked over at the medicine he was prescribed, and she glanced at him, snorting.

Again, he was confused.

She shook her head, and she put the clipboard down. "Ill explain later." She whispered, and after a few minutes he stops biting down onto the tube. Immediately, a large puddle of saliva slipped out of his mouth, slobbering all over himself like a dog.

"Gross." She chuckles and hands him a towel, letting him wipe it off himself as she went to clean the tube, dry it and put it back in its spot.

"Oh! Pidge will return back to her room in a few hours. You'll be able to visit her for an hour, but then you have to leave her alone for the entire day. She needs to rest."

He nods, not bothering to speak when he felt like his tongue was too large for his mouth.

She rushes him to go upstairs, and he rushed over to his room. Once he positioned himself properly to get on his bed, he collapsed onto the soft, comfortable mattress with a sigh of relief.

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

He woke up, wondering when he passed out. Feeling like he was being watched, he looked over at the door, seeing pidge blankly stare at him as her eyes faintly glowed in the dark. They stared right at each other, and keith kept quiet, unsettled. 

Something was wrong. 

She blinked a dark substance from her eyes, and she turned around and quickly left his room. He watched her and he looked behind himself, only to see shiro. His galra arm glowed with a hue of purple, and he could feel the heat inches away from his own face. He soon pulled keith up, only to slam him down onto the bed. Shocked, overwhelmed and terrified, he froze under shiro as he sat on top of him, throat clenched tightly around his throat.

His metallic arm moved delicately down his torso, to his stomach and began to get hotter and hotter. Soon enough, he began to dig his fingertips into his flesh, creating a hole. Keith let out a choked out scream as pain seared throughout his entire body, thrashing around violently in utter pain. He could feel the heat drop once he was by his intestines, and keith struggled to breathe. 

He dug his nails into shiros arms, raking them down in effort of getting him off. Beads of blood formed on the scratch marks, but it was nothing compared to keith. He had blood pouring out of his wound, and he swore he was about to faint.

Black spots began to litter his sight as he started to pass out, the sight of utter hatred in shiros eyes making his heart sink even more.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo there's gross stuff like vomit and,,, blood in this chapter!  
> If you have a weak stomach, or you're squeamish about these kinds of things, I suggest you skip this chapter and go to the end for a clean summary of what happened.

A nurse stood there in the hallway, a phone in their hand as they played sugar crush in silence. The paused the game upon hearing an object fall, and they walked over to Keith's room, curiosity and worry flooding over their consciousness. 

The metallic door opens at the step in front of it, and the light turns on at the staff members presence. 

Keith was writhing on the bed as the muscles on his back spasm. He tensed his jaw and gripped onto the bed sheets as he retched and began to vomit blood, tearing at the blankets beneath him. 

The nurse brought up a walkie talkie to their lips, pressing onto the button to alert any nearby staff members. "Vb, Keith kogane, room... 142." They spoke frantically. 

Just as they were trained, they grabbed a mask out of their pocket. Slipping the string behind their ears and pulling the mask piece over their nose and mouth, they slipped on the gloves as well and walked over to Keith. 

He was as tense as can be, his eyes as wide as an owls, blinking too fast. 

The nurse picked him up in a bridal style, due to not being very strong. They then rush out of the room, ignoring the disgusting feeling of the patients vomit on their shoulder, only to travel down his chest. 

This caused the nurse to stick out their chest to avoid any vomit falling onto the ground as they were in the elevator, heading downstairs. 

Keith gagged and tensed up, his arms weakly held onto his waist as he stared up at the nurse in terror. 

The nurse shifted on their feet anxiously as they waited to be taken down in the elevator, faintly being able to smell the stomach acid. 

Once the doors opened, keith's doctor stood at the door with a hospital bed, and th nurse gently placed him in. 

Without a word, the doctor quickly took him inside the large room full of extremely sick patients. The nurse watched them speed off, blinking several times when they say keiths pupils becoming a tint of yellow. 

The nurse sighed and walked to a bathroom, cleaning themselves out of the blood vomited all over him. 

\-----------------------------------------

Keith's eyes rolled to the back of his head as his breathing became shallow and heavy. The doctors put him under anesthesia, watching him relax.

They all stripped him out of his dirtied clothing and cleaned him up quickly, getting prepared for surgery.

He was weak, but they couldn't risk letting his body get back to normal. His esophagus most likely had a vein pop, or he had a blood clot. 

Nonetheless, he needed serious medial attention. The staff members have never lost a patient, and they never will. 

Keith twitched in his sleep as they took him into the surgery room, nurses slipping inside and putting on anything necessary. 

The surgery carried on for several hours, due to seeing Keith's rib cage broken. It was mostly two fake rib cages, but it wasn't that bad. 

Near the end of surgery, tension and anxiety lingered heavily in the air, it was almost suffocating to deal with. 

The nurses had to constantly wipe the sweat off of the doctors forehead , seeing that she was heavily focused on saving her patient. 

She sewed the stitches in with a steady hand, letting the nurses quietly talk to Keith as he woke up, looking around anxiously. He looked confused, but couldn't do or say much due to the anesthesia he was put under. 

Once they finished, everyone cheered and relaxed, leaving Keith even more confused. 

Keith closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, his heart beat stuttering and returning to its original state. 

Has his heartbeat always been like that? 

Whisking the question away before he could accidentally trigger a panic attack, he let himself listen to the silent conversation as he was taken into the room of somewhat healthy patients. 

Once he opened his eyes, he looked at the doctor who was sitting by his side. She was writing on her clipboard, not noticing Keith right away. 

She looked worn out. The bags under her eyes were rather evident, and her eyelids were drooping. She was practically ready to pass out, from the looks of it. 

He rolled his head to the other side and he closed his eyes, drifting to sleep. 

\-----------------------------------------

Keith woke up a few hours later to the sound of a heartbeat monitor beeping, and the sound of patients murmuring quietly. A few coughs or wheezing laughter was scattered across the room, making it slightly comforting to be in the room. 

He moved slightly, wincing at feeling a slightly numb pain going down his collar bone, ending at his stomach. Curious, he moved his hand over to his skin, fingertips barely grazing the stitches hidden within his hospital gown. 

Licking his dry lips idly, he looked at the ceiling light and wondered why he was here. Why did he even get surgery? 

Desperately looking for answers in his foggy memory, he couldn't even remember why he was brought inside. All he could salvage was going to sleep in his bed, and waking up to see the shocked expressions on several nurses and doctors faces, as well as a bright light looming over him. 

 He snapped his attention to his doctor as she stepped inside his cubicle, looking a lot more relaxed than she did the last time he saw her. 

She offered him a smile, the familiar twinkle of playfulness shining in her eyes. "Hey there kogane. How are you feeling?" She soon pulls over a chair and sits down nearby him. 

He shifts slightly, carefully sitting himself up. 

He was _really_ missing the cryptopods. 

"A little shitty, but I can deal with it." He rasped, and she hands him a water bottle. He gratefully took it, and opened the bottle to drink nearly the entire thing. 

His throat was parched. 

She chuckled and leans back. "That's good." 

"What about you?" He looks at her once he had finished drinking. 

She shrugged. "I'm alright. Just a bit tired is all- hey, do you remember what happened last night?" 

Keith was slightly caught off guard by her question, and he furrowed his eyebrows together before shaking his head. 

"Ah. Alright. Well, I'll ask a nurse to bring you something to eat." She got up and offered one last smile before she stepped out of his cubical.

Weird.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry if these chapters are getting shorter and shorter, or becoming more and more bland.  
> I'm usually writing these on my phone,,, 
> 
> Anyway I hope this wasn't too confusing!  
> Keith was having a night terror and a vein popped in his esophagus, so that's why he began to vomit blood. 
> 
> I have a feeling everything I wrote was wrong ;;;
> 
> Anyway here's the summary for those who want to avoid reading about gross body stuff. 
> 
> A nurse heard something fall in Keith's room, only to step inside the room and see he was really sick. The said nurse told other hospital staff members about this and took him downstairs to be see Keith's doctor.  
> He had surgery and woke up confused due to not remembering his nightmare, let alone what he did in order to get surgery.  
> The doctor and Keith had a short talk about how they were doing, questioned what happened last night and ended the conversation at that.  
> This left Keith confused.


	8. Chapter 8

Waking up, his eyes fluttered open. There were heartbeat monitors beeping at a moderate pace, and his nose felt stuffy. With a groggy sigh, Keith would soon twist his expression with disgust upon the faint taste of snot going down his throat. His gaze moved around the room that was dimly lit, and he watched pidge being rolled out of the room. 

What was pidge doing in here? 

Keith would move himself up, back pressed up against the pillows as he shifts his legs. He would soon look over at the needle that was drawing blood. Tearing off the tape and the needle itself, he would soon push himself out of the bed to feel his stomach lurch in terror as he fell into the darkness. There was no hospital floor, dirt or any ground in general. He falls and thuds heavily onto the ground, groaning with pain. The familiar and unfavorable taste of iron lingered within his mouth as he pulled himself up.

"Keith."

Keiths opened his eyes and looked at the nurses who fixed his bed sheets. "Are you sure you're fine with these? You're sweating an awful lot." One spoke, as another grabbed a towel to dab the beads of sweat off of his pale forehead. 

Nodding, they give him a water bottle before leaving him alone. Seeing the wheelchair to the side of his bed, he felt the urge to crawl into it and just leave this place. The hospital, the overwhelming staff members and gaze. Even if the shack made him miserable at times, he wanted to reminisce upon memories he's shared with shiro. 

Shaking his head to clear his selfish thoughts away, he looked over at the clock. He needed to do something to ignore the ghostly pain in his legs that caused the muscles to twitch. 

\----------------------

Hours passed by and all Keith wanted to do was shower and stretch. The feeling of sweat sticking to his back and pillows was honestly gross. Sure, Keith wasn't the cleanest paladin but even then he hadn't to draw the line with these kinds of things. 

A while ago his doctor gave him a mouse toy, expecting some sort of laugh from Keith. He was ready to make a snarky comment, defensive and wondering if she was teasing him about being part galra. Did she even know? 

Sinking his nails into the rough fabric, he found it a bit difficult to not tear it apart and just go back to sleeping. Perhaps, that was what she intended for him to do? Wear off a bit of stress, seeing that he can't really do any training for now. 

Speaking of which, he's pretty sure he had to go and start his walking exercises this day- or night, whatever time it was. 

Rushed footsteps came towards his cubical, and Keith's attention turned to the young nurse. "Sorry for the delay. There were some technical difficulties but I think we should be able to start your exercises now."

keith nods and the man helped Keith out of bed, much more quiet and anxious than the other staff members. "I've never met you before... are you new?" He inquired, and the nurse nods. 

"To be quite frank with you, I don't really know which room we're supposed to go to." He tucks a long strand of coiled hair behind his ear with embarrassment, followed by pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

"That's fine. I'll lead you if you like?" Keith looked over at the man before realizing why he became much more anxious. His gaze moved over to his doctor, who rushed over to the two. 

"What the hell are you doing?" She demands and Keith watched the newbie shrink, small smile immediately fading. "Stop smiling and go back to your department- god, you're lucky I'm merciful." She snaps and smacks his hands off the handles of Keith's wheelchair. 

"What was he-" Keith was cut off from her glare, and he watched the newbie run off as soon as she looked away from him. 

"You're just as stupid. What the hell were you thinking? Have you seen how sick you look?" She scolds him, and Keith frowns. 

"You look like a corpse, damnit. Has anyone been checking on you?" She would pick Keith up, who struggled weakly against her. 

Her grip around him was firm, and she led him back into his miserable little cubical. He was placed back into his bed, and the woman would let out a long sigh. She looked nearly as livid as Keith felt, but they decided to not mention their rage to avoid a loud, verbal fight. 

She would run her fingertips through her hair, before picking up a small mirror that was tucked neatly under his bed, pointing it at him. 

Keith could catch an easy glimpse of how pale he was- he looked incredibly sick. The heavy bags under his eyes made him look like he's aged six years, his black locks of hair matted and clumped together. It looked oily and depressing. 

His gaze moved up at her, now understanding why she was fretting so much. 

She thought he was going to die.

The air caught in his throat, and he shifted uncomfortably. "How long do you think it'll be until I pay a visit to your supposed utopia?" He asks reluctantly. 

"I'd give it a month minimum." She responds, and slumps down in the seat as if she's been defeated in a fight about her favorite show. 

Keith nods and picked the crust out of the corner of his eyes. "How long have I been here?" 

"Almost a month." 

"Has anyone...?"

she shook her head, much to his dismay. "No ones messaged you. I'm sorry." 

He hated how she spoke- acting much more kinder as if he were on the verge of death. Keith would sniff and lean back against the pillows. "Do you know how pidge is doing?" 

"She's doing alright. They've released her last week, but her sight seems to be excellent." 

He nods a little, relaxing slightly. At least something was going well for one of his friends. 

"Do you think she could visit?" 

Again, the doctor shook her head. "Her sight is still too sensitive for her to step foot out of her room." 

Keith fell silent, but gave a curt nod. The doctor soon understood his wishes and would get up to leave him to his own thoughts. Perhaps, the last thoughts that would stick to his mind until his last moment.


End file.
